SAS among business analytics leaders

With a powerful set of diverse business analytics offerings, SAS continued to outpace the overall market in 2007, according to prominent analyst firm IDC.*

The global business analytics software market grew at a 12.7% rate, while SAS grew at a 13.9% pace, recording sales of $2.15 billion in the same period, noted the IDC Worldwide Business Analytics Software 2008-2012 Forecast and 2007 Vendor Shares report.

Because of the economic downturn, IDC predicts that the business analytics market will grow at a slightly slower rate in the next five years with a forecasted compound annual growth rate of 9.7%. SAS expects to continue outperforming the business analytics market.

"The value of business analytics to organisational performance continues to gain followers among corporate leaders who, according to our research, continue to invest in solutions that yield better decisions," says Goran Dragosavac, national product manager Analytical Intelligence at SAS Institute. "With its singular focus on analytics and broad portfolio of industry-specific applications, SAS is well positioned to grow even in a troubled economy."

SAS is unique among business analytics vendors not only because of the breadth of its software portfolio, but also because its products provide solutions to business process-specific decision-making and optimisation issues faced by organisations in all industries. IDC ranked SAS as the number two business analytics vendor, and the company is consistently ranked as a leader in numerous subcategories.

"Unlike the competition, SAS offers a true framework for business analytics with all of the necessary solutions and applications to make a clear impact on business goals," said Jim Davis, SAS Senior Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer. "Businesses of all size are embracing analytics and IDC has recognised our commitment to lead this trend."

SAS has developed a portfolio of industry-specific solutions for financial services, life sciences, healthcare, energy, retail and other sectors. These include anti-money laundering, drug development and supply chain management, as well as numerous other applications. SAS also offers numerous cross-industry solutions.

All SAS solutions were developed within the company`s unique business analytics framework, which includes data integration, reporting and analytic capabilities, enabling customers to maximise the performance of their enterprises.

*Source: IDC, Worldwide Business Analytics Software 2008-2012 Forecast and 2007 Vendor Shares, Doc # 214904, November 2008